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Three quarters of South Sudanese population needs aid, UN appeals

The World Food Programme (WFP) says three quarters of the population of South Sudan needs humanitarian aid after the deadly clashes last week causing the displacement of 36,000 people in the capital alone.

The director of WFP, Ertharin Cousin, told AFP on Tuesday that the conflict is causing hunger and despair as people were hiding during the violence.

“Three quarters of the population of South Sudan is in need of humanitarian assistance. This conflict will leave even more people in hunger and despair,” she warned.

According to her, aid workers in Juba remained hidden in bunkers in the past days of fighting because of the bombing. More than 2,000 people have fled the violence to find refuge in UN premises, she added without giving further details.

Juba was the scene of deadly clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and former rebels of Vice President Riek Machar. The two men finally announced a cease-fire late Monday after many calls by the international community.

Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in the new outbreak of violence. The UN says some 36,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.

The clashes have raised fears of renewed large-scale fighting in the country like the December 2013 civil war marked by inter-ethnic massacres of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of nearly three million.